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Saturday, January 24, 2009

Longtime media moneymaker Rush Limbaugh said he wanted our new President to fail. I'll leave all the criticisms of demagoguery and divisive ideology to other bloggers. I'm no economist, but if you take into consideration that Rush represents the pre-nostalgia approval rating of the former President, and what supply and demand look like in a theoretical "free marketplace," how much money can Rush (and similar ideologues) make for their bosses now?

In a "free" market, in this optimistically left-of-center American climate, extreme right-wing commercial radio would quickly go the way of the sitcom, filmed in front of a studio audience. And left-wing court jestery is less funny. There might be a resurgence of all three in the future. Then again, things are more complicated than that, and CBS still has laugh track comedy on Monday nights. For President Obama to fail in this failed economy means bad things for many Americans, and good things for the blowhards who are unpopular right now.

My point is, while blowhard conservatism is douchebaggery, nuanced scholarly conservatism is not. The same goes for liberalism, but I'll let them (okay, us) remained buzzed in the afterglow of the Inauguration for the time being. Here's a quick cheat sheet for the new American conservative minority.

As for me, my politics in this new world is simple: Liberalism for kids, and libertarianism for adults. While nowhere near a suitable replacement for nurturing parents, the government (Federal, state, and local) should provide all American children with opportunities, regardless of wealth at birth. Once that is done, an adult can fail or succeed in any way he/she wants. Obviously, we would have to wait at least one generation for this to actually work. Until then, it's bailouts and partisanship.

Not to be left out in my rant, social conservatism has a place in private homes and small religious communities, but it has a minor place in the public taxpayer forum. We're eight years behind in some scientific research, so let's GIT-R-DONE!

Did you see what I just did there? Unlike Mr. Limbaugh, I want President Obama to succeed.